Title: The Forest for the Trees Director: Bernadine Mellis Year: 2005
What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The filmmaker, Bernadine Millis, is the daughter of the civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, who in the past represented the Black Panthers and the Weathermen. The film is seen through her eyes as her father represents the case of Judi Bari against the U.S. government.
Judi Bari was a leader of Earth First! who wanted to protect the future of Redwood trees. Eco-activists in the past used monkey wrenching and tree spiking as a mean of sabotaging the timber industry, Judi Bari saw that this was a poor tactic since it puts timber workers at risk of injury, so she tried to work with the timber workers and their families in order to come to a solution. The timber industry saw this as a threat, and her car was bombed in 1990, and she was consequently arrested as a terrorist for bombing her own car. Judi decided to sue because she thought it was sabotage by the Oakland Police to discredit her and Earth First!
Dennis Cunningham takes Judi’s case, and after 12 years, Judi Bari vs. the Oakland Police gets a court date. Unfortunately Judi dies of terminal breast cancer before the trial date. In the end, Judi wins the court case and $4.4 million in damages.
What sustainability problems does the film draw out?
I believe the main sustainability problem the film draws out is the idea that fighting for sustainability is difficult, and there is little tolerance for dissent. Judi Bari was doing a very wise thing, and that was protecting Redwood trees that can normally live up to 2000 years, and they are the tallest species of trees in the world; however, by protecting these trees and the people that work for the timber industry, she became a major threat because eco-activists and timber workers supported her efforts. Since she was such a threat, somebody pipe bombed her car, and she was accused of being a terrorists and planting the pipe bomb herself. This was all in an effort to discredit her and Earth First! So in general, fighting for what is right and sustainable does not always come easy and there may be problems along the way.
What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
I thought the most compelling part of the film was when the timber workers were talking about Judi Bari and acknowledging that she had an amiable presence and really tried to work with them to solve problems versus resorting to dangerous methods such as monkey wrenching or tree spiking. I thought this was persuasive because it showed that Judi Bari attempted to resolve an issue by looking at all sides of the story versus other eco-activists that only cared about the trees and threatened the lives of the workers.
What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by?
I was not fully convinced by some of Judi Bari’s team / supporters. Alicia was the least convincing because she lacked proper education and seemed over zealous about issues without fully understanding what makes these issues difficult to solve and messy.
What additional information does this film compel you to seek out? Where do you want to dig deeper and what connections do you want to make with other issues, factors, problems, etc.?
I would want to seek out ways in which I can help protect against deforestation. I dug a little deeper in terms of understanding about deforestation in my Matrix project, which was about how using palm oil as a substitute for partially hydrogenated oils was destroying the rainforest in Indonesia particularly. In the project I tried to understand why we used palm oil instead of some local source of oil, what was happening to these places, and which companies were using palm oil.
I think the issues of deforestation and preservation of our ecosystem is a topic that is often discussed. Deforestation destroys our planet’s biodiversity, and protecting it is very important. Additionally there are other factors associated with deforestation such as greenhouse gas emissions, negative ramifications to the local people, pollution into the water and soil, and etc.
What audiences does the film best address? What kind of imagination is fostered in viewers? Do you think the film is likely to change the way viewers think about and act on environmental problems?
I think this film best addresses people who are unaware of this event and are interested in knowing about the extent of government corruption and how the media portrays people like Judi Bari. I think viewers will understand a little bit more about the difficulties of trying to fight for environmental causes. This film may discourage viewers to become activists and become part of organizations such as Earth First! They may become more aware of issues like this and the importance of preserving nature, but may take a backseat in terms of fighting for it.
What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film?
It is suggested that although it may take a while, people should fight for the truth, and Judi Bari was in the right, and she sued because the accusations against her were unjust, and she it worked out in the end.
What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?
To improve this film’s environmental education value, there could have been more information about Earth First! Additionally, perhaps there could have been more about the impacts of deforestation and the importance of Redwoods or Judi’s other issues she was concerned about and fought for in the past.
The Forest for the Trees
Title: The Forest for the TreesDirector: Bernadine Mellis
Year: 2005
What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The filmmaker, Bernadine Millis, is the daughter of the civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, who in the past represented the Black Panthers and the Weathermen. The film is seen through her eyes as her father represents the case of Judi Bari against the U.S. government.
Judi Bari was a leader of Earth First! who wanted to protect the future of Redwood trees. Eco-activists in the past used monkey wrenching and tree spiking as a mean of sabotaging the timber industry, Judi Bari saw that this was a poor tactic since it puts timber workers at risk of injury, so she tried to work with the timber workers and their families in order to come to a solution. The timber industry saw this as a threat, and her car was bombed in 1990, and she was consequently arrested as a terrorist for bombing her own car. Judi decided to sue because she thought it was sabotage by the Oakland Police to discredit her and Earth First!
Dennis Cunningham takes Judi’s case, and after 12 years, Judi Bari vs. the Oakland Police gets a court date. Unfortunately Judi dies of terminal breast cancer before the trial date. In the end, Judi wins the court case and $4.4 million in damages.
What sustainability problems does the film draw out?
I believe the main sustainability problem the film draws out is the idea that fighting for sustainability is difficult, and there is little tolerance for dissent. Judi Bari was doing a very wise thing, and that was protecting Redwood trees that can normally live up to 2000 years, and they are the tallest species of trees in the world; however, by protecting these trees and the people that work for the timber industry, she became a major threat because eco-activists and timber workers supported her efforts. Since she was such a threat, somebody pipe bombed her car, and she was accused of being a terrorists and planting the pipe bomb herself. This was all in an effort to discredit her and Earth First! So in general, fighting for what is right and sustainable does not always come easy and there may be problems along the way.
What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
I thought the most compelling part of the film was when the timber workers were talking about Judi Bari and acknowledging that she had an amiable presence and really tried to work with them to solve problems versus resorting to dangerous methods such as monkey wrenching or tree spiking. I thought this was persuasive because it showed that Judi Bari attempted to resolve an issue by looking at all sides of the story versus other eco-activists that only cared about the trees and threatened the lives of the workers.
What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by?
I was not fully convinced by some of Judi Bari’s team / supporters. Alicia was the least convincing because she lacked proper education and seemed over zealous about issues without fully understanding what makes these issues difficult to solve and messy.
What additional information does this film compel you to seek out? Where do you want to dig deeper and what connections do you want to make with other issues, factors, problems, etc.?
I would want to seek out ways in which I can help protect against deforestation. I dug a little deeper in terms of understanding about deforestation in my Matrix project, which was about how using palm oil as a substitute for partially hydrogenated oils was destroying the rainforest in Indonesia particularly. In the project I tried to understand why we used palm oil instead of some local source of oil, what was happening to these places, and which companies were using palm oil.
I think the issues of deforestation and preservation of our ecosystem is a topic that is often discussed. Deforestation destroys our planet’s biodiversity, and protecting it is very important. Additionally there are other factors associated with deforestation such as greenhouse gas emissions, negative ramifications to the local people, pollution into the water and soil, and etc.
What audiences does the film best address? What kind of imagination is fostered in viewers? Do you think the film is likely to change the way viewers think about and act on environmental problems?
I think this film best addresses people who are unaware of this event and are interested in knowing about the extent of government corruption and how the media portrays people like Judi Bari. I think viewers will understand a little bit more about the difficulties of trying to fight for environmental causes. This film may discourage viewers to become activists and become part of organizations such as Earth First! They may become more aware of issues like this and the importance of preserving nature, but may take a backseat in terms of fighting for it.
What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film?
It is suggested that although it may take a while, people should fight for the truth, and Judi Bari was in the right, and she sued because the accusations against her were unjust, and she it worked out in the end.
What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?
To improve this film’s environmental education value, there could have been more information about Earth First! Additionally, perhaps there could have been more about the impacts of deforestation and the importance of Redwoods or Judi’s other issues she was concerned about and fought for in the past.